


Miraculous: The Following Years

by miraculous_jedibug



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Badass Alya Césaire, Canonical Character Death, Chat Noir Reveal, F/M, Fox Lila Rossi, Hawk Moth Reveal, Hawk Moth is Gabriel Agreste, Identity Reveal, Kidnapping, Ladybug Reveal, Minor Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe, Minor Original Character(s), Miraculous Holder Chloé Bourgeois, Miraculous Ladybug Love Square, Original Character(s), Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, POV Alternating, POV First Person, Presumed Dead
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-15
Updated: 2018-03-15
Packaged: 2019-03-31 21:35:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 23
Words: 15,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13983780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miraculous_jedibug/pseuds/miraculous_jedibug
Summary: Set two years after the show 'Miraculous Ladybug'. An underlying tragedy has rocked the hearts of Marinette, Adrien, and Nino, leaving Paris' superheroes discouraged. As they struggle to cope, more and more akumas rise, leaving need for another miraculous holder. A tangle of lies tie everyone together. With Lila's return, and Alya's disappearance, there's more pressure than ever. Follow Lila, Mari, and Adrien as they face everything - and everyone - they fear...and the people they love the most.





	1. Pilot

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Bri Bri and the Tree Fairy. Love you guys :)](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Bri+Bri+and+the+Tree+Fairy.+Love+you+guys+%3A%29).



"Marinette! Time for school!"

 _Already?_ I open my eyes, groggy, and proceed to climb out of bed. I am exhausted. After spending all night fighting an akumatized gym teacher with Queen Bee and Chat, I am one hundred percent sleep deprived, and only want my bed and maybe (definitely) some Starbucks. But not school. No, absolutely _not_ school.

Unfortunately, I do not have a choice in the matter. So I pull off my Ladybug onesie (yes, haha, how ironic) and put on my everyday outfit: my classic white, flowered shirt; grey sweater; and pink leggings. Tikki peeks out of my purse. "Good morning, Marinette!" she squeaks. "Good morning, Tikki," I say with a laugh. As I make my way downstairs, I shove Tikki in my bag. "Hide!"

"Marinette!" my dad booms. "Daddy," I smile, and burrow into his side. He holds out a box to me. "First day of eleventh grade, gotta celebrate somehow!" he says, and I take the box. "Yum!" I exclaim as I open it. I find green macarons neatly stacked in rows of four. "Daddy! Thank you!" I say, just as a wave of déjà vu hits me…

_It was my first day: was it ninth or tenth? Doesn't matter. It was my first day of school, before I knew Adrien, before I knew Chat, before I was Ladybug. My dad gave me green macarons for school, just like today. I spilled them saving an old man, who I now know is an akuma holder - Master Fu - from getting hit by a car. I split the last macaron with Alya…_

That snaps me out of my trance. Memories of Alya are painful and numerous. Just thinking about her makes me… _No_. Today, I am not going to dwell on the past. Today, I am going to live in the future.

I arrive at school and blow a goodbye kiss to my parents. I proceed to walk in to greet my friends, most of whom I haven't seen all summer.

"Nino!" I spy Adrien's best friend and run over to chat. "How are you?"

"I'm good," Nino responds. He points to the corner of the schoolyard. "I think Adrien wants to talk to you, though."

I walk over to where he pointed and see Adrien standing there, looking nervous. "Adrien?" I say tentatively.

"Oh, Marinette, hi," he says, still frowning and not able to meet my eyes.

"You okay?" I ask.

"Yeah…but I heard about…um…that other boy," Adrien finally responds. "You know, the one that Nino saw you with on Saturday." I'm dumbstruck. Another boy?

"No!" I say, a little too forcefully. "Sorry. But: what other boy?" I feel confused. What boy does Adrien think would come between us?

"The boy you were walking with on Saturday. You guys were chatting and sharing ice cream, and I just thought…" His voice trails off.

"Oh, Adrien," I say, "That was just Ayden."

"What's that supposed to mean to me?" Adrien asks. He sounds angry. "Who is Ayden, Marinette?"

"Ayden's just a friend. I swear. He's my pen pal that lives in California. He's in France for college, so I thought we'd hang out. But it's nothing more than that. I promise."

Adrien seems to collapse in on himself at this. "Oh."

I lean in and kiss him, gently, briefly, on the lips.

"I love you, Adrien."

"Love you too, Marinette."

The bell sounds. _Brrrrrrriiiiiiiiing!_ "We'd better get to class," I tell Adrien. He smiles, for the first time today.

"Yes," he says. "Great idea.


	2. The Magma Monster

**Chat Noir**

"Bugaboo!"

I see my lady making her way across the rooftops to meet me.

"Hello, Chat." She smiles at me. Although I am dating Marinette, my true love, I cannot help the flutter in my chest whenever she looks at me. Her gaze holds, and my cheeks heat.

"What's our mission today, my lady?" I ask her. She responds quickly.

"There."

I follow her pointed finger to a series of buildings that are on fire.

"Ah," I say. "Let's go!"

We leap across the rooftops towards the small fires. It only takes us a minute or two to get close. Ladybug swings out her magic yo-yo and hurls it at a streetlamp nearest to the fire.

"C'mon, Chat!" she yells at me. I follow her with my stick.

We get to the source of the fires and see a fiery, molten monster standing in the midst of it all.

"I'm guessing that's the akuma?" I state the obvious, and Ladybug laughs.

"Probably," she responds, with a twinkle in her eye.

I spy a locket around the monster's neck. "There!" I say, and point it out to Ladybug. "That's probably where the akuma is, don't you think?"

"Yeah," she responds. "Probably."

We dive right into action. I hurl myself at the molten monster to steal the locket, while Ladybug spins her yo-yo around another pole and leaps on top of it. Unfortunately, my desire to impress Ladybug has gotten me trapped: once again.

The monster grabs me out of midair and holds me in his heated fist. I struggle to escape. Um, rude! Cats don't like heat!

I wrestle the monster, trying to free myself, but all he does is grab a bus and sticks me under it. Luckily, I know what to do now.

_Cataclysm!_

I touch the bus that has me trapped, and it disintegrates into fine brown dust. I leap to my feet and join the action once again. As I look up, I see that Ladybug is using her Lucky Charm. A large cardboard box falls out of the sky.

_What?_

Ladybug looks just as confused as I feel. What is she going to do with that?

Luckily, my lady is smarter than I am.

I can see her stringing together what to do as the monster charges.

_Charges?!_

I leap into action. I hurl my stick between Ladybug and the molten monster, which stops him for some time. Ladybug quickly carries out her plan: I can't tell what she's actually doing because hello? Monster.

Ladybug retrieves the akuma from the monster's locket and ( _Time to DE-EVILIZE!)_ de-evilizes it. I walk over to her.

"Pound it!" we chorus simultaneously. My ring beeps.

"Gotta go, m'lady," I tell her.

"Bye, Chat," she says. "See you later."

When she leaves, I detransform. Plagg flies out of my ring.

"Don't you wanna know who she is?" he asks. "Follow her! She'll never know."

Yes. Yes, Plagg, I do want to know who my lady is. But I would _never_ betray her like that. So I walk home, alone, as the model Adrien Agreste, and nothing more.

**Author's Note**

Hey, Miraculers! I just wanted to say that I am _very_ thankful for all of you. This is, as you may be able to tell, my first experience writing fanfic. If you have any suggestions, plot ideas, or just want to say hi, PLEASE leave a review or comment below!

Today I have a lot of time on my hands. I will probably be able to publish at least two more chapters today. Stay tuned!


	3. Starbucks

**Adrien**

It's Picture Day: but every day for _me_ is Picture Day, isn't it?

Anyway, we all line up in our rows by height. I'm still one of the taller ones. My girlfriend, Marinette, and my best friend, Nino are more on the short side, so I'm not near any of them. Instead, I'm surrounded by my very tall classmates.

Time for Roll Call. The cameraman reads off a class list.

"Adrien Agreste?"

_Here._

"Chloé Bourgeois?"

_Here._

"Ivan Bruel?"

_Here._

"Alya Césaire?"

_Alya…_

The class shifts uncomfortably. Marinette turns around to exchange a glance with me, and I see tears welled up in her eyes. What happened to Alya…well, it was painful and, truthfully, no one actually knows what happened to her.

No one except me, Ladybug, Queen Bee, and Hawkmoth.

Someone must have tipped off the cameraman about Alya, because he turns crimson and continues.

"Juleka Couffaine?"

This continues for a while, until the last student's name is called. No one is absent except Alya, who's been absent for four weeks.

Finally, the man steps behind the camera, and _Snap!_ the picture's done.

All that, for one _snap_.

"Back to class!" the cameraman calls cheerily, and we follow our teacher back into the classroom.

_Lunch Period_

I walk out to lunch with Marinette and Nino, who both look slightly depressed.

"Alya?" I ask. They know what I mean, and nod glumly. They have a right to be sad. Mari was Alya's best friend. Nino was her boyfriend.

Chloé walks over.

"I heard it was Ladybug and Chat Noir's fault," she says snidely.

"Bug off, Chloé," I say tiredly. Those words got to me like nothing else did. The worst part was that it was true. It was our fault.

I look over at Marinette, and she has an expression mirroring my own when I think about how it was my fault.

Weird.

We finish our lunch in silence, the only noise we make being chewing. A couple minutes before the bell rings, I pull Mari aside.

"You ok?" I ask, clearly knowing the answer.

"Not really."

"You wanna talk about it?"

"No."

What happened to the sweet, clumsy, bubbly girl from a year ago?

"I just..miss her," she says, and she breaks.

Mari-my sweet Marinette-collapses into my arms. I hug her tightly.

"I miss her too."

"Mari?"

"Yeah?"

"Let's get coffee."

"Okay."

I take her hand and we walk out of the school together. I open Google Maps on my phone.

"There's a Starbucks, like, fifty feet from here," she says quietly.

I look up. Sure enough, the is a Starbucks right across the street. I laugh.

"How observant, Mari," I say. She squeezes my hand. We cross the street and walk into the Starbucks. Mari places her order, and asks what I want.

"Oh…um, I don't eat…" my voice trailed off. Pity shines in Mari's eyes. She knows that Natalie has me on a _very_ strict diet.

"He'll have a birthday cake pop," she finishes for me.

Alrighty. I guess I'm having a cake pop.

"MMM!" I exclaim as I finish my cake pop. Mari laughs.

"First cake pop?" she asks.

"First Starbucks," I answer, much to her surprise.

She laughs.

"You're kidding!"

"Nope,"

She leans across the table and kisses me.

"I love you so, so much, Chat," she whispers.

I see her face shift.

"No! Nononono I'm sorry Adrien I meant you I was just thinking about him heh heh kill me," she babbles.

"Mari! It's ok," I reassure her. Inside, though, I'm confused. What relation does Mari have with Chat?

Does she _like_ him?


	4. Special: Alya, Part One

**Ladybug and Hawkmoth**

_**Miraculous: The Following Years** _ _**Special** _

_**Alya: Part One** _

**Ladybug**

My name is Ladybug, or Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

And this is how I got my best friend killed.

_It was just another day._

_An akuma had possessed some guy, and Chat, Bee, and I set out to de-evilize him._

_Bee was immobilized early on. It was up to me and that silly kitty to defeat Celsius: the strongest akuma holder I'd ever seen. I could tell that Hawkmoth thought that too._

**Hawkmoth**

" _Take their miraculouses!" I commanded Celsius. But this akumatized idiot was rebelling._

" _No," he said. Simple as that, yet it denied me control over my own monster._

" _Fine!" I spit. "Let it be like that!"_

_I would give Polka Dots and Kitty-Cat ten more minutes._

_Then, I'd step in._

**Ladybug**

_Me and Chat were failing._

_Not failing, necessarily. Just… we hadn't even located the akuma yet. No doubt about it: this battle was the hardest one we'd ever fight._

_Celsius roared again, and charged. I swung out of the way just in time. But, as I changed my view by moving, I saw a figure out of the corner of my eye. She was filming the whole encounter._

_ALYA?!_

_It wasn't safe for her to be here. Celsius was strong. A civilian would have_ no chance _against him._

_I motioned for Alya to stay put._

Please, Alya _, I thought._ Please stay there.

_Chat and I lead another strike against Celsius. I swung around his huge, metal neck to tie him up, while Chat searched for the akuma._

_It wasn't easy, that's for sure._

_I finally got Celsius all tied up, and we located the akuma._

" _Finally!" exclaimed Chat. I had to agree: that took way too long. Way longer than any of our other battles, that's for sure._

_Before I grabbed the akuma, I noticed something._

_Neither Chat or me had to use our powers._

_That meant the battle wasn't over._

" _Chat!" I screamed. "He's gonna attack again!"_

_Chat looked up at me._

" _What?"_

_He said this just as Celsius emitted a loud grumble. Smoke came out of his mouth, and he rose to his full size again, shaking off my yo-yo as if it were a piece of string and not an indestructible…um…piece of string. Whatever._

_Celsius roared again, which knocked both me and Chat off our feet. We flew backward into the park._

" _Chat!" I hollered. I didn't know if he was alive or dead, if he was impaled on a rock or still standing._

" _I'm okay," came the faint reply._

_Good. That was a start.  
"Can you get up?" I asked._

" _No," he said, even quieter this time._

_I was pretty sure Chat wasn't okay. But I had no time to waste: Celsius was preparing another attack. Suddenly, I had an idea. I grabbed my Ladybug-phone._

" _Master Fu?" I said. Master Fu picked up almost immediately._

" _Yes, Ladybug?" he asked in his typical, zen tone._

" _I need your help. Now. I'm fighting a strong akuma. Chat is hurt and maybe dying. Can you come and help? Please?" My voice broke on the last syllable._

" _Yes, Ladybug. I will be there soon."_

" _Wayzz! Shell on!" I heard the old man say. I laughed and hung up the phone._

_Please be okay, Chat. Please._

_Tearing my mind off my kitty, I turned to face Celsius. "Let's do this."_

_I gritted my teeth, whipped out my yo-yo, and started spinning it. Fast._

_Celsius roared, and lunged for me. I dodged the huge metal machine, and spied the akuma in his furnace: the crumpled letter sitting amidst the flames. I have my yo-yo one more spin and hurled it into the fire pit._

_Celsius looked mad and madder as my yo-yo's return produced the purple letter containing the akuma. I tore it. "Time to de-evilize!" I de-evilized the akuma into a normal, white butterfly. "Bye-bye, little butterfly," I said._

**Hawkmoth**

_I knew Celsius wouldn't have it in him to take the miraculouses._

_I was just going to have to do it myself._

**Ladybug**

_Priorities._

_I hurried over to where Chat fell, and saw Master Fu performing some kind of magic ritual on him. Chat glanced up at me with weary eyes._

" _Hey, Bugaboo," he said, and I laughed with tears in my eyes._

" _Hello, Chat."_

" _Will he be okay?" I asked Master Fu worriedly._

" _He will be fine. But no more fighting today, understand?" He said to Chat sternly. Chat looked upset but nodded yes._

_Also._

_Checking on Alya._

_I ran over to where Alya had been crouching. "Alya!" I exclaimed, relief in my tone. "You're okay."_

" _Of course I'm okay!" she exclaimed. "And, I got it all on video for my Ladyblog!"_

" _Great, Alya," I said._

_I left to return to Chat and Master Fu._

_Again, I had the nagging sense that I was forgetting something._

_Ah, yes. My Lucky Charm. Chat's Cataclysm. They hadn't been used yet._

_This battle wasn't over._

_Just as I thought this, something criminal descended from the sky._

" _Hello, Ladybug," Hawkmoth said._


	5. Special: Alya, Part Two

" _Hello, Ladybug," said Hawkmoth._

" _Hawkmoth," I muttered through gritted teeth. "What are you doing here?"_

" _Taking matters into my own hands," he responded coolly. "Now, give me you miraculous!" he commanded._

" _Never."_

_And that is how this battle among many began._

_Hawkmoth summoned an akuma. "Akumatize her!" he yelled. This wasn't a normal akuma, though. The blackish-purple butterfly flew right at me. While it flew, though, something about it shifted. The purple of its wings faded into a deep red. Looking at the akuma, it almost looked like - a ladybug. This made the akuma look even more evil and menacing. I took a step back as Hawkmoth spoke again._

" _If this butterfly possesses you," he started, "it will dive deep into your conscience, your memories, your innermost thoughts and desires. It will then locate your greatest weakness and where that weakness lies."_

" _Adrien," I gasped. I could_ not _let that akuma anywhere near me. I whipped out my yo-yo. I tried to capture and de-evilize the akuma. But this akuma was special. The butterfly simply dodged my attack and continued to assault me. Soon enough, I was tired and coughing hard from being chased by the butterfly. I stopped, for only a second, to take a breather, and…_

whoosh.

_the akuma flew into my yo-yo._

" _No!" I screamed. But I could already feel its intruding presence in my mind, drawing out sensitive memories from my past. Sweet memories, dark memories._

_When I got my miraculous._

_When Chat almost died ten minutes ago._

_When Adrien and I danced._

_When Tikki was sick._

_Memories of the past flashed through my mind, one on top of the other. I sunk to my knees in despair. "Get it out!" I screamed._

_To my left, I saw a tall red beacon rise up from a parking lot nearby. And it wasn't coming from Adrien._

" _Alya!" I cried. "Run!"_

_Alya didn't hear my screaming. She kept tapping away on her Ladyblog, oblivious to the world and the danger surrounding us._

_Hawkmoth spotted the beacon._

" _Alya Césaire," he murmured. "Bring her to me!"_

_A massive swarm of akuma rose up from who-knows-where at Hawkmoth's command. They went to retrieve my best friend._

_I saw the event register on Alya's face._

_I saw terror set in._

_I saw the urge to save herself overcome her features._

_I saw her turn and run._

_And then, something happened that doomed Alya._

_Her phone fell out of her pocket._

" _Oops!" she exclaimed, in the midst of it all._

_She reached down_

_and grabbed_

_her phone._

_This delay was all the akuma needed._

_They swooped down from the sky and took Alya in their wings. Flapping butterflies surrounded Alya's entire body. If my best friend weren't dying, I might have though it was kind of pretty._

_Alya screamed again as she (and the akuma) migrated across the plaza and towards Hawkmoth. "Ladybug! Chat Noir! Help me!" Her cry was desperate and pleading, and I felt a pang in my chest about the fact that I couldn't help her._

_The akuma dropped her right in front of Hawkmoth._

" _Alya," he said in a creepily calm tone, "nice to finally meet you. You, Ladybug's greatest weakness. Tell me, girl, why are_ you _Ladybug's most important, most protected person on the planet?"_

" _I- I don't know!" she rasped, and tears welled up in her eyes. "I really don't! I swear!"_

" _It's okay, Alya. I believe you," said Hawkmoth. "You will make quite an interesting captive."_

" _No!" I shouted again. I hurled myself at Hawkmoth in a final, desperate attempt to save my best friend from certain death._

_Hawkmoth snapped his wrist and_ WHAM! _I went flying across the plaza._

" _Akuma? Follow me," he commanded. "And Lady Wifi."_

_They vanish._

_I sit on the ground in utter disbelief. What had just happened?_

_Master Fu and a limping Chat returned to my side. "What happened?" he asked gently._

" _Alya," I whisper, my voice raw._

_My kitty sinks to sit with me._

" _What was she to you?" he asked softly._

" _A friend."_


	6. Special: Alya, Epilogue

**Marinette**

The next day at school, I have to learn to cope without Alya.

"She's probably just sick," insists Nino. "It is flu season."

Adrien, on the other hand, looks just as depressed as I feel.

"You okay?" I ask.

"I… just feel like Alya isn't okay. Maybe it isn't just a cold," Adrien admits.

My blood turns cold.

"Why?" I ask casually, my insides churning. What does Adrien know?

"I can't say. I just have…this feeling," he tells me.

I give Adrien a comfort hug.

"I'm sure she's fine," I assure him. "And if she isn't, well, I'm sure Chat Noir and I-erm, Ladybug- will be close behind."


	7. Pizza and the Rooftop

**Marinette**

"I'm Nadia Chamack, and _this_ is your news!"

I turn off the TV.

My phone buzzes with a text message. I glance over and scan it. It's Adrien.

_Hey!_ I respond. He writes back quickly: _Wanna come to get pizza with Nino and me tonight? Nathalie is letting me get normal person food for once!_ Ugh. I'd love to get pizza - I really would – but what if someone is akumatized? Then what? _I don't know if I'm free. We'll talk after school._ I hit send.

{ **later** }

No one has been akumatized yet, and school is over. I might as well go with them.

"Hey, Adrien!" I chirp. "I can come today!"

"Great, Marinette," he says, and flashes me his model's smile.

"ADRIKINSSSSS!"

Oh, no.

Chloé comes bounding across the plaza that we are meeting on.

"Can I come? Of course I can! Thank you, Adrikins!" she screams.

Well. I guess Chloé is coming with us.

Together, we walk over to the nearby Round Table. Chloé hangs on Adrien's arm the _entire_ walk. Doesn't she know he's taken? The nerve! Adrien gently shrugs Chloé off as he walks closer to me. He grabs my hand.

"So what plans almost got in the way of this?" he asks me.

"Erm…" I can't answer. "Um…"

"It's okay," Adrien says, "a girl can have secrets. You don't have to tell me."

I breathe a sigh of relief.

Finally, we reach the pizza places.

"Wahoo!" Nino exclaims. "We're finally here!"

"Nino, we've been walking for five minutes."

"Whatever," Nino retorts with a grin.

I'm glad Nino's happy. Who knows, maybe he's finally getting over Alya's disappearance! But even if he isn't, an hour of happy with his friends will do anyone good- especially him.

We order our pizzas and sit down at the nearest table. Just as our food arrives…

"An akuma holder has been spotted on 14th and A Street!" Nadia Chamack exclaims to the camera. "All commoners advised to stay where they are: unless it's a dance studio. Those of you at dance, move now. Everyone advised to stay calm. Ladybug and Chat Noir, we need you!"

"I have to go to the bathroom," Adrien and I say simultaneously. Nino laughs.

"Whatever you say, bro," he says, and waves us off. I do feel bad for leaving him with Chloé- wait, where's Chloé? Nino's sitting by himself, on his phone, eating all of our pizzas.

Whatever.

I duck into the girls' bathroom. "Tikki! Spots on!"

I hop out the window with ease, only to find Chat standing right there. "Are you stalking me, kitty?" I say with a giggle in my tone.

"I can't stalk you without knowing who's under that mask," he reminds me.

"You know where the akuma is?" he asks.

"Fourteenth and A."

"Let's go!"

"Oh, and I'm supposed to be in a bathroom at a pizza place," I tell him, "so let's make this quick."

He stops and stares at me. He gives me a strange, uncomfortable look. "Okay," he finally says.

"Hey, guys! Wait up!"

Ew. Queen Bee has arrived.

Queen Bee is so obnoxious: almost as bad as Chloé (almost). She's always prattling about how she's the _best_ and _better than you_ (you being Chat and me). But, nevertheless, she does some good work (sometimes).

Bee flies up to us. "You left without me," she pouts.

"How could we know where to meet you?" Chat asks. "We don't even know who you are!"

" _You_ don't know who _I_ am? I'll tell you, ignorant idiots! I'm – " Her kwami cuts her off. "Bee, we've gone over this! You _can't tell anyone who you are!_ " Pollen exclaims.

"Ugh," says Bee. "Fine."

{ **later** }

Twenty minutes later, we have captured and de-evilized the akuma. The Parisian who was akumatized is safely back in her home. And all of Paris is going to forget about this in less than a day.

Bee flies off without saying goodbye, leaving Chat and me alone. Typical.

"Who are you, under that mask?" Chat asks quietly.

"Chat…you know we can't talk about this," I respond.

"Not like that," he amends. "I mean, who _are_ you? What do you like doing?"

"Sewing, designing, saving the world…you know, typical stuff," I say, laughing at the last part.

"Cool," Chat says, and we sit on the rooftop in silence.

Then something unexpected happens.

Chat puts his arm around my shoulders, in a friendly way that feels like more. I lean into him and smile.

A low rumble emerges from his throat.

"You silly kitty."

"That's me."

We sit there for a while, not quite romantic, nor friendly either.

And you know what?

I'm okay with that.


	8. Bee Exposed

**Adrien**

Another day, another akuma to fight.

I wake up, stretch, and proceed to get out of bed. Plagg flies out of my ring.

"Breakfast?" he asks expectantly.

I ring for some Camembert cheese for Plagg. As the kitchen processes my request, I grab an outfit to wear to school: my typical black shirt, white sweater, and jeans. I admire myself in the mirror. _Black really_ is _my color._

Once Plagg is fed and happy, I'm ready to go to school. I grab my schoolbag and leave without saying bye to anyone. Why would I? They wouldn't care. I hop in a cab, which drops me off in front of school. I throw the cabbie a twenty-dollar bill, even though my route was only $9.26. "Thanks!" I call as I rush into the schoolyard.

When I arrive, I see Nino and Marinette, my two best friends, talking. I walk over to them. "Hi, guys," I say cheerily.

"Hey, Adrien," Marinette says, and gives me a good-morning hug.

"Hi, Adrien," Nino responds. "Long time no see."

"Oh, yeah," I say with a laugh, "long time since yesterday."

Marinette smiles at the two of us. Her smile is beautiful. Her eyes are pretty, but maybe I just think that because they look like Ladybug's. Actually, Marinette looks a lot like Ladybug. That's funny. My two favorite people in the world look like twins.

( _Author's note: Adrien is an idiot in this scene.._ )

I look down at my phone: 7:32. Three minutes until Chloé comes rushing out of her car to me screaming-

"ADRIKINS!"

Well. I guess she's early today.

"Hi, Chloé," I say, embarrassed like I am every day. I shrug her off my shoulders. "A little space?"

"There's no space between my heart and yours," she croons. I feel sick, and I groan. Marinette comes up behind her.

"Except me," she says. "But you know that, right?"

"Know what?" Chloé deflects Marinette's meaning.

"That Adrien and I are dating?" Marinette rolls her eyes.

"Oh, haha," Chloé fakely laughs, "that won't last long, sweetie."

"Back off my girlfriend," I say angrily.

Chloé shrugs, obviously disappointed, and walks away.

"Sorry about that," I say apologetically. "Chloé gets…"

"It's okay," says Marinette. "I know."

She gives me one brief kiss on the cheek, and walks off to class.

After school, I walk to my locker and grab my bag. Someone walks up behind me, which surprises me.

"Miss me?" says Queen Bee.

"Um…" I say, confused. "What are _you_ doing here, Bee?"

"Oh, sorry. Forgot that I was still in costume. Pollen, wings in," she says coolly.

"No!" I turn around and shield my eyes. We _can't_ know each other's identities! "Bee, don't do that again!"

"Adrikins, listen to me!" she snaps. _Chloé?!_

Without thinking I turn around.

Yep.

Chloé.

"Chloé!" I yelp. " _You're_ Queen Bee?!"

"Uh-huh," she says. "Aren't I just amazing? _So_ much better than that stupid cat or flighty bug."

Ex _cuse_ me? Did she just call me a 'stupid cat?'

"Bee! Chloé…whatever you are…you can't just fly around revealing your identity like that! You're lucky no one else is around!"

There _is_ no one else around…riiiight?

I hear a sound not unlike a pterodactyl screech coming from my left. Oh, great. I turn towards the sound and see Chloé's best friend, Sabrina, leaning on a locker and staring at Chloé.

"How much did you see?" I ask gently, not wanting to scare her away. The poor girl already looks freaked out enough.

"A-a-all of it!" she exclaims, and goes back to staring at Chloé.

"Sabrina!" Chloe yells. "What did I tell you about trying to hang out with me when Adrien is around?"

"To pretend like we aren't friends," Sabrina whispers. "But, Chloé…"

"Pollen, wings out. I don't have time for this," Bee says, and flies away.

Sabrina collapses in tears. "I- thought we were friends!" she cries. "Or, at least, good enough friends so that she would tell me when she got a MIRACULOUS!" Sabrina, too, runs away, and I am left standing in the midst of it all, not quite knowing what to do. If I follow Bee, I can confront her and make sure that no one else will find out what she said. But if I don't follow Sabrina, I have no doubt that she will get akumatized. Even though she's already been akumatized, Hawkmoth will have no trouble akumatizing her as long as her feelings are strong enough.

Suddenly, I know what to do.

"Plagg, claws out!"


	9. Bee Exposed, Part Two

"Plagg, claws out!"

I quickly carry out my plan.

"Ladybug?" I ask into my phone. "It's me, Chat. This is urgent. Call me back when you get this. I need to find Bee. We have to talk. I'll be busy fighting an akuma near the school. Love ya. Bye."

I send the voicemail and proceed to follow the sound of chaos. All bets say that those noises are coming from an akumatized Sabrina.

I whip out my stick and vault myself over the buildings between Sabrina and I.

Sabrina has transformed completely and she looks just like Queen Bee, except her colors are reversed.

"Sabrina!" I yell. "Stop, now!"

"My name isn't Sabrina anymore, kitty," she screams. "I am Wasp!" With that, she conjures up a swarm of bees.

"Rude!" I say. "Cat's don't like bees!"

I dash and dodge out of the way of the offending swarm. _These bees really do make it difficult to get closer to Wasp_ , I think. And since there were many bees, I can't use my Cataclysm. The death of one in many won't make much of a difference. What I really need is Ladybug. Maybe her Lucky Charm will produce a bug net, or something to disable the bees with.

As I evade the bees, I call her again. "I could really use my Bugaboo right about now…"

"Looking for someone?"

I jolt up and turn around. "Ladybug!"

"Hi, Chat. Now, what sticky situation has my kitty gotten himself into _this_ time?"

"Bees," I shudder. Ladybug understands.

"Lucky Charm!"

Sure enough, a butterfly net falls out of the sky.

"For once," I say, "I know what your Lucky Charm is for."

Ladybug attaches the handle of the net to her yo-yo. She twirls the yo-yo once, twice, three times, before hurling it at the attacking bees. My Lady catches every single one on her first try.

"Skills," I say, laughing. But the battle isn't over yet. It's time to go for the prize: Wasp.

"Ready, m'lady?" I ask.

"Always."

Together, we dive at Wasp. "There!" I spot the akuma in her comb, exactly where Bee's is. As I distract Wasp, Ladybug whirls around and grabs the comb. She easily snaps it in half. "Time to de-evilize!"

After Ladybug is done releasing the akuma, I fill her in on everything that happened today.

"Ladybug…" I say. "I know who Bee is."

"Yeah," she laughs. "She's Queen Bee, our helper, except she never shows up. Yes, Chat, I know who Bee is too."

"No, no, no, m'lady, you don't understand," I correct her. "I know her true identity."

She emits a low whistle.

"How?"

"She told me."

" _Told_ you? Seriously? No fanfare, nothing?"

"Nope. She just said, 'I'm Queen Bee, idiot.'"

Well, that wasn't _exactly_ what happened. But I couldn't tell Ladybug exactly what went down because she could figure out my identity because of it. Besides, that was _basically_ what Bee was implying.

"Who?" Ladybug sounds curious.

I tell her. "Chloe, the mayor's daughter."

"I've had my suspicions ever since the day we met, but…" She stops midsentence. "I always could tell that their personalities were similar, but I never actually thought…"

She pauses.

"Wait, how did _that girl_ get a _miraculous_?" she asks. "I know her, and she is the most despicable person I've ever met."

"I know her too, m'lady," I say. "I don't understand it either."

"Whatever," she laughs. Eventually, I start laughing too.

_Beep! Beep!_

My ring beeps at me, and I see that Ladybug's earrings are running low too.

"Plagg needs some cheese," I say. "Gotta go! Cat out."

I hurdle over buildings and trees with my stick until I am home, where I supply Plagg with some Camembert as I read the news.

"Invitations to the Annual Parisians Honors Ball extended to Ladybug and Chat Noir, the saviors of our city," reports Nadia Chamack.

The Honors Ball?

Me?

Easiest RSVP ever.


	10. The Honors Ball, Part One

**Chat Noir**

_"May I have this dance?" I ask her as the lights dim._

_I take her hand as a slow dance begins._

_And that's when the roof comes crashing down on us._

{ **Two hours earlier** }

I RSVP yes to the Annual Parisian Honors Ball. Of course I did! I'm one of the main attractions! My Lady and I, along with others that are ultimately less awesome than I am, are going to be honored tonight for everything we've done for Paris. The Honors Ball is going to be in an old castle south of the Eiffel Tower. Some people have been there for days setting up. There's people up there prepping thousands of balloons, hanging hundreds of streamers, cooking countless meals for guests. There's the chefs, the caterers, the planners, the hosts, the reporters: and they're all here for me.

Well, me and a couple other people.

But mostly me.

Anyways, I'm super excited. There's sure to be dancing for me and my Lady, and lots of cheese for Plagg. He'll be thrilled.

I previously ordered a nice suit, and had it tailored (by Ladybug, who is apparently a great fashion designer!), trimmed, and sewed on. Now it looks like my Chat Noir clothes, except fancier and formal. I know she's making a dress for herself, and I can't wait to see it. She's going to look _amazing._

I pull on my suit and check myself out in the mirror. I look fantabulous (as always) in my new attire. Just wait until I show Ladybug! She's a genius with a sewing machine. Almost as good as Marinette!

It's finally time to leave. I _would_ use a limo (either my father's limo or an ordered one), but I have to keep my identity secret. So it's off to the rooftops for Chat Noir today! I grab my stick and catapult myself onto the roofs of Paris.

About half an hour of vaulting and jumping later, I have arrived at the old castle. It's beautiful. Every year, the castle is spruced up for this celebration. It's tall and ominous, except it _isn't._ The decorators and designers have done a brilliant job converting this age-old castle into something out of a dream.

All for _mwah._

As I arrive at the gates, I see that the paparazzi has already arrived. And so has my Lady. She's standing near the cameras in a glittering gown that makes me feel underdressed.

"You look amazing," I tell her.

"Thanks, Chat," she says. "That suit really _suits_ you."

We crack up.

"Pun intended."

We waltz through the front gates and into the ballroom, and I am hit with another wave of 'feeling underdressed'. This really is a _formal_ event! There's ladies in ball gowns, men in top hats and tuxes. It honestly looks like something from the 1700s.

When the crowd sees us, they applaud. Cameras flash, and I am blinded by all the white light exploding around me. Ladybug squeezes my arm as we fight through the crowds to the Seats of Honor: a row of medieval-looking chairs lined up neatly. They all have signs above them: Ladybug, Chat Noir, Mayor Bourgeois, Gabriel Agreste.

_Father?!_

I act cool and calm as I greet the rest of the honored guests, although I start sweating when I come to Father's chair.

"Hello, Mr. Agreste," I say carefully. I look for any flash of recognition in his eyes upon seeing me- _there_. Something changes in my father's expression. Something new is present: hatred?

Why would Gabriel Agreste hate Chat Noir?

He gives the same look to Ladybug as he shakes her hand.

_Oh, no._ Does my father have me figured out?

After that stressful encounter, Ladybug and I head over to the buffet table. Obviously, _this_ is why I came. There are stacks and stacks of platters and plates lined up in neat rows. And, at the end of the table, there is a sign: _Chat Noir_. Under the sign I see Camembert cheese. Ah, Plagg will be absolutely _thrilled_ when he sees this! I wonder who organized this. I'll have to thank them.

"Time for dancing!" A large man announces with a microphone. A slow dance song starts up.

Yes! Dancing!

I fight my way through the crowd and back towards my Lady.

"May I have this dance?" I ask as the lights dim.

I take her hand as a slow dance begins.

And that's when the roof comes crashing down on us.


	11. The Honors Ball, Part Two

Screams echo from my fellow partygoers. Out of the corner of my eye, I see my Lady run off somewhere she can transform. Since we are in party clothes, we technically aren't in our 'official' Ladybug and Chat Noir attire. Our identities were still pretty well disguised, though.

I dart around an abandoned corner. The roof here hasn't fallen yet. "Plagg, claws out!" I say, and my kwami obliges.

When I get back out into the commotion, I see that Ladybug is already at work chaperoning people to safety. I do the same.

"Come on, come on, come ON, people, hurry it up, let's go. There's a door at two o'clock, go out there. Keep your arms over your neck and head."

This was my repeating chant that I would say over and over in the next couple minutes. I herded masses of people outside. "C'mon, guys!"

Once everyone is safe, I hop up onto the roof, where I find Ladybug waiting for me.

"Took ya long enough," she teases.

"Sorry, I was too busy saving lives."

"Speaking of saving lives, what or who do you think caused that?" she asks. I'd been wondering the same thing, and started to tell her this when-

"I did."

My head jolts up to the source of the voice.

"Queen Bee?!" I exclaim.

"Why- why would you _do_ that?" Ladybug asks with disgust in her voice.

"A certain Bee wasn't _invited_ to this party," pouts Bee. "So I decided that I'd rather no one enjoy the festivities than everyone _except me_."

"Bee!" I yell. "You could've killed people!" I am utterly horrified. Sure, Ladybug and I knew that Bee wasn't… the most _moral_ person. But I never thought she'd sink to this level…

"That's disgusting," Ladybug accuses. And she's right.

"You put aside these behaviors when you got your miraculous," I say quietly. "And now, you've gone back on that agreement. You don't deserve Pollen! You _never did!_ " My voice rises to a yell.

"I agree," says a clear voice.

"Master Fu!" stutters Bee. "I didn't know you were coming tonight!"

"Oh, I wasn't," answers Master Fu in that obnoxiously zen voice he has. "I'm here for you. I'm sorry, Bee, but…" he pauses, "Pollen, wings down."

"No!" screeches Bee as she begins her detransformation. "You can't do this!"

"Actually, I can," Master Fu responds. "As the Guardian of the Miraculous, I am permitted to go to drastic measures to keep the world safe from corrupt miraculous holders like you."

"I'm not corrupt!" Chloé screams, even as Pollen, pouting, grabs the comb that houses Chloé's miraculous. Pollen brings the comb to Master Fu and flies into it.

"Goodbye, Chloé," she says, and goes dormant inside the comb.

"NO!" Chloé hollers again.  
"Ah, you are being quite a problem right now," Master Fu says. "Ladybug, Chat Noir, hold her down, please."

"My father _will hear about this_!" she insists.

"I think not," Master Fu says cryptically.

He begins chanting in a foreign language. His eyes glow green.

"M-Master F-Fu?" Chloé asks, quaking under her restraints.

Master Fu throws his hands into precise rotations. Chloé goes limp.

"There," he says. "It's like Queen Bee never existed. All of Paris has forgotten."

"But what about us?" Ladybug asks, obviously shaken from everything we just witnessed.

"I cannot manipulate the minds of miraculous holders as I can normal citizens," he explains. "That is a different, darker magic. That is for another time."


	12. Decisions, Decisions

**Master Fu**

"I did what I had to do," I say to my kwami, Wayzz.

"I know," he responds, "but Chat Noir and Ladybug need someone else. Queen Bee, Volpina, I don't care. But Hawkmoth is getting stronger by the minute, and not even the powers of destruction and creation can topple him."

Wayzz has a point, and this deeply disturbs me. Hawkmoth _is_ getting more powerful, and we need to do something to stop him.

"Okay," I say finally. "I'll see what I can do."

Wayzz leaves the room. As he leaves, I walk over to my old phonograph. I activate the switch and the box containing the miraculouses is displayed with a soft _click_.

I finger the newly restored comb. The pendant necklace. Which to choose? Who to give it too?

I have now been wrong about who to present a miraculous to twice. This will not happen again.

My heavy gaze returns to the necklace.


	13. A New Classmate

**Lila**

It's a beautiful day. The sun's out and shining, the birds are chirping, the sky is a cerulean blue. Cheesy, I know. But true. But I'm not in a cheerful mood today. After the Volpina incident, I was basically bullied out of my class, removed from my school, and separated from my friends. I decided to transfer. Today is my first day at the school Adrien Agreste goes to. I wonder if he'll remember me..?

I'm nervous, but I hear the kids there are nice. So I pull on a basic outfit that consists of jeans and a cute t-shirt that will definitely get Adrien's attention. He'll fall for me in no time, no doubt about that.

After Volpina, I've dropped my grudge against Ladybug. We were both in the wrong, and now I've changed. I want to apologize, but a slight problem is in the way: I don't actually know who Ladybug is. But if I see her again, I'll make sure to, I don't know, try to be better.

After eating breakfast and walking to school, I'm finally here. I hesitantly, slowly walk into the wide beige schoolyard. There's a _ton_ of kids in here. It really doesn't help that this isn't anyone's first day… except mine. How convenient.

I see Adrien talking to a boy and a girl. I uncertainly walk over to them.

"Hi, Adrien…" I say slowly. His head jolts up.

"Lila?" he exclaims. "What are you doing here?"

I tear my gaze from Adrien and study his friends. There's a blue-haired girl that doesn't look very happy about my arrival. I also see boy with short black hair who looks kind of sad. I study their faces intently, wishing to know their personalities.

That's when I realize that Adrien had asked me a question.

"Oh-um-Itransferredherebecauseofstuffthathappenedatmyoldschoolsohi," I babble.

"Sorry?" Adrien asks. I turn beet red.

"Sorry. I transferred here, so I'm going to be in your class now," I try, clearer now.

"Ah," Adrien says, just as the blue-haired girl grabs his arm.

"Adrien?" she inquires. "Come here for a sec."

"Um, okay," Adrien agrees. "Lila, Nino, I'll be back in a sec."

Adrien and Blue Hair go into the corner of the schoolyard. I overhear snippets of the conversation. Blue Hair is still glaring at me. I'm guessing Adrien is reminding her about Volpina.

I blush and frown. I _am_ used to people talking to me behind my back, but Adrien…is different. I _actually care_ about his opinion.

I scowl over at them again.

_Crap!_

Adrien and Blue Hair are talking, and Adrien leans over and kisses Blue Hair on the lips.

Well, I guess he's taken.

I'm just going to have to break 'em up.

They return to us.

"Marinette, you're right, but…" Adrien's voice trails off.

"I know I'm right," Blue Hair -Marinette- snaps. "That girl's bad news, I just know it," she says quietly.

"Marinette, shhh," Adrien shushes. "Stop it! _That girl_ is standing right in front of you!"

"Oh, sorry," Marinette says to me.

So much for making friends.

I look at the ground.

"It's fine," I say. "Ever since…I've always been treated like this. Really, it's fine."

Still staring at the ground, I walk away, my face burning.

"Hey, isn't that the fraud…what's her name?" a huge boy says to my left.

"Volpina, and yes," a blonde-haired girl answers. She approaches me.

"I'm Chloé. You know who I am."

I stare at her with a blank look.

"Um, hello? The mayor's daughter?" she snarls.

Ah. _That_ Chloé. I've heard…interesting things about this girl from Adrien.

"Oh."

"Anyway, I need a new best friend." She smirks at a redhead staring beside her.

"C-Chloé?" the redhead said.

"SaBRIna, what did I say about knowing me in public?"

"Sorry, Chloé," Sabrina says.

"So, Lila…whaddaya say?"

"Umm…sure?" I say, not entirely sure what I've gotten myself into.

"Perfect," Chloé says. She stalks away, probably to find some new prey.

"What did Chloé say to you?" Adrien walks up to me.

"Apparently, we're best friends now."

"Ah. Have fun with that," he jokes (I think?).

"I…will?" I say, and blush.

"C'mon. Let's get to class," Adrien tells me.

"'Kay."

We walk to class together. The last thing I see before I enter the classroom is Marinette, Adrien's _girlfriend_ , giving me dagger eyes.

Well.

I guess she knows who's actually meant for Adrien.


	14. A Hero of Lies

**Master Fu**

I finger the necklace, then pick it up. I've just the girl in mind. I grab my sunglasses and wooden crutch and start down towards the school.

**Lila**

_Shoot!_

I'm running late for my _second day of school_! It's called 'first impressions!' Which of I have made NONE. Wonderful.

I'm running down the block, with my backpack in hand, when I trip over something. I tumble and roll, trying to regain my balance. Finally, I am able to stand, and I look back at what made me stumble. There's a short, old man lying on the sidewalk reaching for his crutch, which I must've tripped on.

I'm really running late. If I keep on running to school, I won't be _that_ late.

I make a decision.

I take a few steps back and turn around.

"Here," I say, handing the crutch to the old man.

"Thank you, thank you!" he exclaims. He stands, waves to me, and walks away.

_Nice man_ , I think.

I keep running to school. Somehow, by some miracle, I'm not late.

{ **after school** }

Unfortunately, when school is over, I must return home. And I really don't want to come home. When you live in a two-bedroom apartment with three sisters, four brothers, a dog, and a single mom, it really isn't fun to hang at home. My sisters and I share a room, my brothers and the dog share a room, and my mom sleeps on the couch- if she's sleeping. My mom works at a diner in the daytime and has a night shift as a nurse.

I take the elevator today, because I took the stairs yesterday. We live on the fifteenth floor. Once I reach my apartment, I unlock the door and step inside.

"Hey, Abby, Dan, Ally, Kaitlyn, Mathew, Luke, Kaden!" I say as I close the door behind me. I'm the oldest child, and there's a big age gap between me and the second oldest: the twins (Ally and Abby), who are nine. Then there's Mathew, who's six, Dan and Kaitlyn, who are four, Kaden, who's three, and Kaden, who's one. Typically, Ally, Abby, and Mathew are at school, but they're all sick with a fever. That's also why the typical chaos that greets me when I come home isn't present today.

"Lila!" Kaitlyn runs over to hug me.

"Hi, Kaitlyn," I smile. "How are you feeling?"

"Better!"

"Good."

Dodging little siblings, I walk through our shabby little apartment and into my room. I sit on my cot, but realize there's something hard under me. Confused, I stand up, to find a little, red and black box sitting on my bed.

I open the box and find…

A white and orange necklace.

Just like the Volpina necklace of last year.

Tears spring to my eyes. Is this some kind of cruel joke? I get that what I did was wrong!

But what happens next blows me off my feet-literally.

An orange, large-eared bug-type-thing flies out of the necklace.

"Hi!" it says.

I only scream.

"LILA?" I hear Ally yell. "ARE YOU OKAY?"

"Yeah, guys, I'm fine!"

"OKAY."

"Who-what the hell are you?!"

"I'm Trixx!" the bug exclaims.

"Again, WHAT ARE YOU?"

"I'm a kwami," Trixx says.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

"Have you ever heard of a miraculous?" Trixx asks.

"Um…no?" I respond. I'm still slightly shaking from Trixx's arrival.

{ **after a bit of explanation** }

"So, you want me to be Volpina again?" I ask, after Trixx's explanation of kwamis and miraculouses.

"Yes," Trixx responds.

"But…Ladybug and Chat Noir won't trust me again!" I exclaim.

"You'll just have to earn their trust," Trixx tells me. "But now, it's time to transform, Lila."

"What if my siblings hear?"

"Good point. Tell them…tell them that you're meeting up with friends."

"Okay…"

I walk back into the main room.

"Hey guys, I need to go…um…hang out with friends. Ally, Abby, you're in charge, okay?"

Mathew runs up to me.

"Why can't I be in charge?" he pouts.

"Okay, fine. Ally, Abby, Mathew, _you're in charge!_ Now, I gotta go!"

I run out the door, down the hall, and down the stairs.

"Trixx, what do I say again?" I ask, once I'm safely in my 'place'. I go here when I need some peace and quiet.

"Trixx, transform me!" Trixx says.

"Okay…Trixx, transform me!" I yell.

Orange and white light swirls around me and wind blows my hair. I whoop in excitement as my costume starts forming. Just as the transformation is finishing, a lightweight flute staff lands in my left hand.

The lights fade and I am left standing under my willow tree, my safe place, as a hero of lies that was once a lie itself. **(A/N oml I love that sentence it's so poetic lol)** I examine my new form carefully, checking out every aspect of myself. It's the exact same as the fake appearance I tinkered for myself last year.

Now, the hard part.

Time to say hi to my old friends, Ladybug and Chat Noir.


	15. Heartbreaker, Part One

**Marinette**

"New girl, huh?" my dad asks. "I saw her walking up to school this morning."

"Lila?" I ask. "Brown hair with white tips, walks with swagger, obnoxious as heck?"

"Yeah, that's the one- although she seemed like a very nice girl! She actually looked very nervous. It was her first day, after all," my dad tells me. I sigh and continue eating my dinner. It's all a ruse, obviously- this ruse of innocence and regret- a ruse meant to bring her closer to _my boyfriend_. I made sure to kiss Adrien in front of her deceptive eyes just so she could see how free he is. Still, though- I don't trust the girl. I'll be keeping an eye on that one, that's for sure.

All of a sudden, I hear a crash from outside. Nadia Chamack comes onto the TV, looking frazzled. When your chill news reporter is worried, you know you have a problem.

"An akumatized man is roaming the streets of downtown Paris!" she announces. "He goes by Heartbreaker. Trust no one today, citizens of Paris. He takes the shape of the one that means the most to you. When your trust builds he takes on his own shape again and recruits you into his forces. It is not clear yet what these forces will do. Do not approach. This man is dangerous. Interviewed citizens claim that Heartbreaker is the most powerful villain yet." The TV fuzzes, turns off, then on again. "New from the station: we have a name for the victim. Sources say that it is Adrien Agreste, son of-"

I mute the TV. _Adrien?_ I have to hear more. Un-mute.

"says one thing: that Chat Noir won't be present tonight."

My heart drops from my chest into my shoes for multiple reasons. First off. This warrior ravaging Paris is my boyfriend, Adrien Agreste. Two. Adrien, akumatized, has caputured Chat Noir. Without him…I might not be able to stop Adrien. No- Heartbreaker. _Adrien isn't Adrien,_ I remind myself.

"Tikki, spots on!" I say, standing in the privacy of my room. I transform into Ladybug, the hero, the girl with the reputation, the girl with secrets bigger than herself. The girl who's missing the partner who completes me. As I ponder this though, I realize something ironic. Oh, the irony. Today, the two people I love from the two lives I live are gone. I laugh bitterly as I leap out the window. Today, I'll be operating on my own. Until…

"Ladybug!" I hear a voice call from behind me. My face turns to stone and I frown deeply.

"Lila?" I turn around to find a girl with brown hair, white-tipped, standing in a foxy orange uniform.

"Well, yes, but I'm Volpina now," she responds. "What do you think?" She twirls around, her faux fox tail swirling behind her. "Listen, Ladybug…I'm sor-" she starts, but stops when a slip of paper falls out of her costume. My eyes narrow.

"What's that?" I reach towards it.

"No!" she yelps and grabs at it, but I'm faster. I hold the paper in my hand.

"ADRIEN?" I scream. "Lila, WHY do you have a picture of _Adrien Agreste_ in your tail? You know he's dating, _right!_ " I shriek.

Her cheeks turn red. "Ladybug, -"

"I don't want to hear it, _Lila_ ," I spit. "You dirty fraud! Do you actually think you can do this again?" My core boils with anger. The fury of our last meeting still hurts. But now…

"I need to focus on things that I find important right now. You, Lila, are _not one of them_." I spin on my feet and walk away in the other direction, shaking my head in disgust.

"Wait!" I hear her whisper. I detect a hint of sadness in her tone. Relenting, I flip back around.

"What is it now?" I snap.

"Ladybug, please think! How do you think I have these powers?" she pleads. I respond immediately.

"An akuma, obviously."

"But Ladybug…Adrien is already akumatized. We – you – know that Hawkmoth can only akumatize one person at a time. You gotta believe me, Ladybug. You need a helper, and Chat Noir can't be that special help today." I think this over. What she says makes sense.

"Prove it," I decide. "Let me see your kwami." Lila detransforms and shoves her kwami in my face.

"Hi!" Trixx exclaims. She flits around my finger. Despite my feelings toward her master, I love Trixx from the first time I met her.

"Hi, Trixx," I smile, but then I remember something.

"Volpina- the master of lies!" I exclaim. "This could be an illusion! How do I know-" Lila cuts me off.

"Ladybug, I know you don't trust me. You shouldn't, after what I did last time. I know you don't like this, but…today you need my help." My mind is torn between my mind and my heart. My mind knows that I need the assistance that Chat can't provide today, My heart screams that she's already betrayed me once. My eyes dart to the picture of Adrien, and my heart wins.

"Sorry, Lila," I say as I spring away. "Go play your games with someone else."


	16. Heartbreaker, Part Two

**Marinette**

"Go play your games with someone else."

I leap away, rooftop to rooftop, to face Heartbreaker. As I fly across Paris, I contemplate something that's been nagging at me since I got the alert. Why is Adrien, my calm and collected boyfriend, akumatized? And why in the world is he called Heartbreaker? I recount all the past interactions we've had, and none of them seem negative at all. My brow furrows in confusion. Well, I guess I'll find out soon enough, because in no time at all I've reached Heartbreaker.

I look down at the boy that is not my boyfriend. But…wait! It's not Adrien or Heartbreaker standing there: it's Chat!

"Chat!" I scream. He looks my way and smiles that mind numbingly adorable smile.

"Ladybug! Finally! I've been waiting!" His smile broadens as I jump off the roof to meet him. I throw my arms around my silly kitty.

"Chat, I'm so glad you're okay," I mumble. He wraps his arms around me.

"So am I, Ladybug." This takes me by surprise. No _m'lady_? No cringeworthy cat puns? I frown.

"Why the long face?" he pouts. "I'm here, aren't I?" I paste on a fake smile, even though my insides are churning. Why is Chat Noir acting so strangely? Did Heartbreaker do something to alter his behavior?

"Chat…are you okay?" I ask worriedly. Boyfriend or not, _nobody_ hurts my Chat, my best friend.

"Fine, Ladybug!" he grins. His constant use of the name _Ladybug_ troubles me. Chat rarelycalls me Ladybug. And he _never_ goes without a pun in five consecutive sentences.

"Are you sure?"

"Yep!" He takes my arm. "Now that Heartbreaker's out of the way…" he starts.

"What do you mean, _Heartbreaker's out of the way_?" I exclaim.

"Well, he isn't here now, is he? Not out problem," Chat explains. I throw his arm off my shoulder.

"Chat, what has gotten into you?" I shout. "No m'lady, no cat puns, no obnoxious flirting…you've always been first to charge a problem, Chat. Why aren't you anymore?" But as I say this, I remember something. _Trust no one. He takes the form of the one you hold dearest…_

Chat isn't behaving weirdly- Chat _isn't Chat!_

He must see the realization on my face, because a pink band of light appears around his face. Hawkmoth must be speaking to him. Chat dissolves before my eyes in a flash of red light. In his place stands a tall blonde figure. He is dressed in a crimson suit and waves a long, narrow wooden stick. At the top of the stick there's a purple ball attached.

 _Purple ball._ The akuma!

In the execution of my mission, though, I have one fatal flaw: I forgot about his army. All of a sudden, I'm surrounded by people. My mother. My father. Nino. Chat. And – my breath catches – Alya. They slowly close in on me, and I recall that everything is not how it seems today. I struggle to escape, but 'Alya' and my 'mother' grip me tightly. I squirm and twist, but their grips are iron. They lift me easily and strut me over to Heartbreaker, whose feet I am dropped at.

"Good evening, Ladybug," he says calmly.

"Adrien!" I gasp. "This _isn't you!_ "

"I'm not Adrien. I'm Heartbreaker now." He presses his neck. "But am I?" After a second, Alya is standing before my eyes. I rip my mind off the hope that she is okay. _Heartbreaker's just messing with me, nothing more,_ I think.

"Nice try, Heartbreaker, but I won't be fooled again!" With these words, I launch myself at him. I spin my yoyo fiercely and hurl it directly at the purple ball. Unfortunately, though, my yoyo is intercepted by 'Nino' and I am reeled in. Gasping, fighting, wriggling, I try to escape, but my attack is to no avail.

"Nice try, Ladybug," he says, mimicking my words. Alya – Heartbreaker – strides up to me. "Time to join my army!" He reaches for his staff…

And his hand goes right through it.

"Looking for this?" a voice calls from the rooftops. My gaze shifts to the owner. I see Volpina standing on a ledge, triumphantly waving Heartbreaker's stick. "Ladybug! Get up here!" With Heartbreaker distracted, I am easily able to slip away towards Volpina. I jump up next to her and take the stick.

"Nice job!" I commemorate her as I snap the purple ball in half, de-evilize the akuma, and send the butterfly flying away.  
"Thanks."

"Lila… I'm sorry I didn't trust you," I say. And I mean it. Without Lila, well…Paris would be doomed. If I was ordained into his army…

"It's fine," she tells me. I turn my head to see Adrien staring at us. I glide down towards him.

"I was akumatized," he says, his voice flat. I guess he can tell, unlike the rest of Paris. Weird.

"Yeah, but it's okay now," I reassure him.

"Ihavetotalktomarinette," he mumbles. If I heard that correctly, _he has to talk to Marinette_ , which means I gotta go.

"Bye, Lila, Adrien." I hop away.

Back at home, I'm awaited by Adrien. Luckily I detransformed before entering my room- otherwise my secret would be out!

"Marinette?" he says quietly. "If you didn't love me anymore, well…you could've just told me. That would be better than this."

"Adrien, what are you _talking_ about! Of _course_ I still love you!" My mind roils and turns. What is the world is he talking about?

"I saw the pictures, Marinette. No need to lie."

"What pictures?!" I exclaim. I'm really getting worried now.

"These." He takes three slips of paper out of his pocket. After he shoves the first one in my face, I see what it is. _Me and Ayden walking together, sharing ice cream._

"Adrien, that's just Ayden! We've already been over this! We're _just friends_!"

"There's more," he says softly, and presents another picture to me. _Me and Ayden…holding hands?!_

"Adrien, where did you get these?" I demand. "That…that never happened!" He says nothing but hands me that last paper. _Me and Ayden kissing._

"Adrien Agreste, if you learned anything about me in the two years that we've dated you'd know I'd never cheat on you! On anyone! These pictures aren't real. Where did you get them?"

"Someone – a nice person – gave them to me."

"WHO?"

"Lila."

I slam my hands down on the desk. "Adrien, enough! You should know Lila enough now! She's willing to do _anything_ to get your attention? It's _not real!_ "

"I don't know, Marinette," he admits quietly. And with that, he leaves, leaving me with my head buried in my hands.


	17. The Envelope

**Lila**

**{before Heartbreaker}**

I open the pictures that Chloé sent me of Adrien and Marinette holding hands, kissing, walking together. _She's been planning her revenge for a while_ , I think. Then I take out the pictures of Ayden and his girlfriend. Listen, I know this sounds bad. But really, it's just payback for her taking Adrien away from me!

I upload the pictures onto my laptop.

_Loading. Please wait._

I fidget.

_Loading. Please wait._

I stare at my screen, willing the download bar along.

_Loading. Please wait._

I smack my laptop.

_Download complete._

Well. I guess that…worked?

I open my photo editing app on the computer. And from there, it's just drag and drop. I'm an exceptional editor, and within an hour I have three convincing pictures of Marinette and Gabe in a romantic relationship. I smirk as I place the pictures in the envelope. On the back I write, _You're welcome. XOXO, Lila._

I seal the envelope, address it, and leave to send it on its way. On the way to the post office, I remember that Adrien has his own mail slot.

 _Perfect_.

I head over to the Agrestes' and open the mailbox. A flicker of doubt crosses my mind, but I ignore it. Superheroes are not weak when it comes to carrying out justice.

I drop the envelope in.


	18. Phil'z

**Adrien**

I sit on my bed with my head in my hands for a while, contemplating what I've just done. Breaking up with your longtime girlfriend isn't something you just do on a whim. But, ha, that's what I just did, isn't it? I lie down and convince myself to sleep.

The next morning sludges by in a haze. I wake up, pull on an outfit, eat breakfast, and walk to school. It could've taken five minutes; it could've taken five hours. I have no way of knowing how long I've been awake for because I'm not really _awake_.

Upon arrival at school, I walk over to the bench that I typically camp out on. No one else is here; I must be very early. A lightbulb moment hits me to check my watch. Yes, that would be a good idea. I check the small clock fastened to my wrist. It reads…6:30?! Instead of freaking out because I have an hour and a half until school begins, I laugh. I laugh at how terrible this terrible morning is, how stupid I was, how stupid Marinette was. I must look insane, sitting on a wooden bench in the schoolyard at dawn, cackling. My laughs stop abruptly as I remember that I have _ninety_ _minutes_ until school starts. I whip out my phone to locate the nearest coffee shop- not Starbucks, though. Too many memories.

It turns out there's a Phil'z Coffee Shop a couple blocks away. Maybe some exercise in the frigid, wintery morning air will do me good. I hunch deeper into my jacket and start walking.

I stroll past rows and rows of tall apartment buildings. Most of their windows are dark. Some are lit up. As I walk, though, I notice the door to the largest, most run-down complex in the area open. Despite myself, I pause to see what type of people live in this neighborhood. And when the door finally swings all the way open, I'm shocked by the number of kids that bound out the door- at least six or seven. And following them all is… _Lila._ The brown-haired girl is trailing the mini horde of kids, ushering them towards the Phil'z. I hear snippets of their conversations from across the road.

"C'mon, Mathew, Kaden, please hurry up!" she tells two boys near the back of the pack. The boys nod to Lila and skip to the front. Lila pushes the kids into the coffee shop where I am headed.

I am conflicted. I don't know whether to follow Lila into the coffee shop and get my caffeine, or avoid cause of embarrassment and go back to the school.

My head throbs with lack of caffeine, which makes my decision for me.

Girl or no girl, I'm getting coffee.

I swing the door, which _ding_ s, open. Standing in the doorway, I am immediately greeted by a blast of warmth- the contrast between the temperature inside and outside is huge. I stroll into the Phil'z and pretend I'm surprised when I see Lila in the forming line. She beckons for me to join her near the front of the queue. I oblige, and move past disgruntled people to stand with her.

"Hey, Adrien!" she says in a falsely high voice.

"Hi, Lila."

"How did those pictures work out for you?" she asks innocently.

"They were…enlightening," I answer.

"Good."

To my surprise, Lila takes and squeezes my hand, before letting it go. My cheeks turn red, much to my astonishment. I _don't like Lila,_ _not like that_. But I can't help feeling a twinge of disappointment when she releases my hand.

By now, we have reached the front of the line. Lila now remembers to ask the kids what they want.

"I wanna uh…uh…" one of them stutters. Lila pats him on the back.

"How about a cake pop?" she asks sweetly. The boy nods happily, as do three of the others. The last few kids look too young for anything at Phil'z.

Lila goes up to order.

"I'll take four vanilla cake pops and a medium mocha. Three shots," she tells Bob, the cashier. Bob nods.

"Four cake pops, three shot medium mocha!" the cashier shouts to employees working in the back. "Anything else?"

"No, that'll be it."

"Seven eighty."

Lila takes out her wallet and pulls out a couple of dollar bills. She mutters a curse under her breath. I assume that she doesn't have enough on her to pay for the food. Without thinking, I pull out _my_ wallet and pay for her.

"Can we add a medium hot chocolate to that order?" I ask as I give the cashier a ten-dollar bill. He nods, and start to hand me change. I put it all in the tip jar.

"You didn't have to do that, you know," Lila tells me as we stand in the back near the window, waiting for our drinks. "I'll pay you back tomorrow."

"No, it's fine. Coffee's on me."

She pauses. "Thanks, Adrien."

"Of course."

With our Phil'z, we walk to drop the kids off at their preschool, kindergarten, and grade school. Then we continue to our high school. The morning bell rings as we enter.

"Adrien?"

"Yeah?"

"That was fun."

She kisses me on the cheek.

"Y-Yeah."


	19. Gabe

**Ayden**

"Ayden, what the HELL is this?!"

Marinette is on the phone, and she does _not_ sound happy.

"Mari, I swear to God, I didn't have anything to do with it!"

"Don't 'Mari' me, Ayden. I need to know what these photos are, NOW."

Marinette's voice echoes with fury. Her throat sounds like it's closing up; she must be crying.

"Marinette…Mari…whatever. Can you come over?"

"To your house?"

"Yeah."

"Gimme ten minutes."

**{ten minutes later}**

"Hey, Ayden."

"Marinette."

I lead her upstairs to my room.

"Marinette, I'm confused. What pictures? What's wrong?"

She glares at me and pulls four papers from her pocket.

"These."


	20. A Chat with Chat

****

**Marinette**

"Adrien, I don't like this," I tell my ex, Adrien Agreste. Today he walked into the schoolyard with who seems to be his new girlfriend, Lila. Lila, of all people. I may be salty about the breakup and the fake pictures, but I still want the best for Adrien. And Lila is _not_ the best in any sense.

"Marinette, you need to let go." Adrien has never agreed with me over Lila's status as a good or bad girl.

"Adrien…I just want the best for yo-"

"Marinette, stop. You go back to your fling with Gabe, and leave me alone to hang with Lila." I give up on turning him back.

"Fine. Fine," I say as I walk away. What happened to the loving, trusting relationship of a month ago? Adrien doesn't believe me when I claim to have NOTHING to do with the pictures. It's kind of infuriating.

**Adrien**

Marinette is still denying the fact that she is dating Gabe. I kind of wish that she would just own up to it so we could start the forgiveness process. Marinette's a good person; I don't want to be on her bad side, that's for sure. I want to stay friends with her. But as of late she's been really sour.

After our fight, I'm left with a feeling of bitterness. In a moment of pure instinct, I grab Lila's hand as I stroll into our classroom to spite Marinette. If she's going to play hard to get, so am I.

**{after school}**

"Plagg, claws out!" I transform into Chat Noir for my third meetup with Ladybug. Last week, we decided that we weren't going to go out. But we still hang out a lot. One of the only pluses of breaking up with Marinette is that I'm free to hang out with my Lady. I have a lot more time to myself, so I meet with Ladybug weekly. She says that she recently split from her long-term boyfriend too.

Lately, there haven't been many akumatized Parisians. Maybe Hawkmoth's on vacation or something.

"Adrien? What are you doing?" Nathalie calls from the hall. She knows not to come into my room without my permission.

I freak out. "Ch-changing?" I stutter, trying to keep her from entering my room where I am in Chat Noir costume. Now that Nathalie's outside my room, I can't leave, even through the window. What if she calls to me and I'm not in my room? My dad would _freak_.

I curl up on my couch with my computer. My cat, Spots, settles on my lap. I stroke Spots as I scroll down the feed of the Ladyblog. This quiet calm continues until I hear Nathalie's heels _click, click, click_ away. I gently shove Spots off my lap. She hisses and strikes me with her claws.

"Spots!" I exclaim. "You okay?" She bats at my hand. I roll my eyes and leap out the window.

I eventually show up to my date with Ladybug five minutes later. She glances at me as I hop up onto the highest level of the Eiffel Tower. This is our normal spot for dates now. When I arrive, I notice that she looks angry.

"I'm sorry that I'm late," I say regretfully. "I couldn't leave."  
"It's fine, Chat. I'm not mad at you."

"Who are you mad at? I'll fight them." I mean it.

"That's sweet, but I'm fine. It's just my ex." I sigh. Her ex-boyfriend has been causing her a lot of issues lately. Whoever he is, he must be a real jerk.

"What did he do this time?"

"I shouldn't have to burden you with this cra-"

"It's fine, Ladybug. Rant your heart out."

"He just…he used to be this smart, caring guy, and now he has this new girlfriend, but she's so fake and he deserves _so_ much more, but he refuses to admit that she's horrible and a big liar," she admits. Tears spring to her eyes. She collapses into my arms. Surprised by the burst of emotion, I put my arm around her.

"Hey. It's okay. It sounds like this guy - what's his name?"

"Um…I probably shouldn't tell you…"

"Right. Identity stuff. Anyway, it sounds like you've done your best to tell him about your issues with this girl-"

"I have!"

"Yeah. If this girl is as bad as you say, he'll see that soon enough. Play hard to get; mess with him a bit, if you want. Just…stay true to yourself, and he'll come running back. You're amazing, Ladybug. He'll see reason soon enough," I tell her. She nods.

"But it's my other identity-"

"Which must be just as awesome as this one," I insist.

"Thanks, Chat." She wipes the tears from her cheeks and hugs me tightly. I squeeze her shoulder.

"No problem."

**{that night}**

I'm lying on the couch, as Adrien this time. I can't fall asleep because of what Ladybug said. Her words play repeatedly in my mind.

_"He just…he used to be this smart, caring guy, and now he has this new girlfriend, but she's so fake and he deserves so much more, but he refuses to admit that she's horrible and a big liar…"_

Is this how Marinette feels about me? I hope not. I don't want to be a jerk to Marinette like Ladybug's ex is to her.

But I can shake the nagging feeling that this _is_ , in fact, how Mari feels. I'll try to talk to her tomorrow.

**Marinette**

I replay Chat's words to myself. He was so convinced that I could overcome this…it makes me smile, despite all this. I won't flounder over Adrien anymore. I won't play hard to get, but I won't worship him either. With this conviction, I sink back onto my pillow.


	21. Plagg's Plan

**Adrien**

"Heya, Adrien!" Plagg exclaims as he flies out of his matchbook bed.

"Good morning, Plagg," I respond blearily. I rub my eyes, trying to remember today's schedule. I do this every morning: plan out every minute of the day. Then, I can have inspiration to get out of bed if there's something fun to d-

Wait.

Today, I'm going to try to talk to Marinette about Ayden and the pictures.

Not _really_ a great motive, but…I know I have to do it.

After showering and getting dressed, I'm ready for school. Plagg rests on my shoulder, eating Camembert. "Whuz thuh plahn fo today, Adien?" Plagg asks through a mouthful of cheese. At first, I dodge the subject, not wanting to talk about Mari to anyone – anyone but Ladybug. I reprimand Plagg for speaking with his mouth full. But then I break.

"I have to talk to Marinette," I say with my head down. Plagg knows _all_ about my conflicts with Marinette, and he can tell that I'm dreading this interaction.

"Oooooooooooh?" he teases. I smack him gently, not hard enough to cause damage to the tiny kwami.

"Shut up, Plagg." Plagg's face loses its usual childishness.

"I'll be right here for you if you need me to step in, Adrien."

"Plagg, I swear…you can't give away my identity!"

"Adrien," he puts his hand on his chest, "if I have to get involved in this, it will be of no drawback to you."

"Okay…" I say, still unsure about Plagg's idea. I'll make sure that he DOESN'T need to intervene.

**{in the schoolyard, before school}**

I take a deep breath. In, out. In, out. I broaden my shoulders and lift my head. Feigning confidence, I strut into the schoolyard. Fake it 'til you make it, right? I walk up to Marinette, the warmth of Plagg in my jacket pocket reassuring me.

"Hey, Marinette," I say nervously. Plagg pats my hand. I take my hands out of my pockets.

Marinette turns away.

"Mari?"

"Hello, Adrien." She turns to face me. Her voice is high.

"Marinette, I wanted to talk to you about Ayden and the photos, but I don't know if I should."

"That's good. Go with your instinct, right?" She frowns and turns her back on me. Wow, someone's salty. I don't want to continue, but Ladybug's words from last night spur me on.

"Marinette…I want to talk about Lila."

This catches her attention. Mari spins to face me, her face angry. "What about her?"

"I want you to know that we aren't dating." There. I've said it. Now we'll make up and go back to being friends.

"Why should I care?" She laughs bitterly.

"Well…I know you didn't want me to date her…"

"Adrien, I didn't want you _around_ her. I didn't want your honest, perfect personality to be corrupted by her lies. The distinction between you two as friends or as lovers makes no difference to me. Now, if this little chat is over, I have places to be."

Well. That went well.

All too late, I feel that Plagg is no longer in my pocket. Uh-oh.

Suddenly, a blob of black falls out of the sky and lands between Marinette and me. _Plagg?!_ Marinette stops walking away. She glances at the black kwami, then at me. I feign innocence.

"What is that?" I ask rhetorically. I doubt that Mari will be able to answer. But I do see a flash of recognition in her eyes before she leans down to pick Plagg up. Plagg is squirming and faking pain. At least, I hope he's faking.

"Ta-take m-me to Chat N-noir," he begs. I stifle a laugh. Plagg's faked suffering isn't very convincing. Although, Marinette looks fairly persuaded by Plagg's lies.

"Chat Noir? As in, the superhero?"

Plagg nods his tiny head. "Yes."

Mari looks up at me. To my surprise, she doesn't ask what this is, or why he needs Chat Noir. She doesn't even look puzzled. Instead, her face reflects worry, almost like she knows what Plagg is and why he's essential to Chat Noir.

How does Marinette know what a kwami is?

Whatever. Question for another time.

Marinette speaks again. "I found one of these on the street before. I know where to take him. Follow me."

I don't know which part of Marinette's dialogue I should concentrate on: the fact that she's _seen_ a kwami before, the fact that she knows where to take one, or the fact that, even after our fight, she's taking me with her to help Plagg.

Good job, buddy. I owe my kwami some Camembert later.

"You coming?" she asks. Her face has lost much of the rigid anger that was present after our quarrel five minutes ago.

"Yeah." I hop on the back of her bicycle. Déjà vu hits me: we did this all the time before our breakup. Just us, on her bike, riding through Paris. I don't typically allow myself to indulge in memories such as these; this is an exception. She throws on her helmet, tosses me mine, and we're off.

To my shock, Marinette stops at none other than Master Fu's house. I give her a strange look. Mari just keeps surprising me today. She shrugs off my glance.

Cradling Plagg in her hands, she hurries into the house. I follow.

"Ah, Marinette," he says. "Good to see you, L-"

Then he sees me.

"-ittle one," he finishes, looking flustered. Marinette bows, and presents him with Plagg.

"He's sick," she declares. Master Fu nods, then discreetly winks at me. He places his hand over Plagg and mumbles something.

"There. All better," he announces. "Now, I know this little guy's owner. Can you leave him with me?" he asks Marinette. She nods, and he winks at her this time. Weird.

"Thank you, Marinette. You may leave." Mari bows again, then walks toward the door.

"Adrien, do yo-"

"I'm fine. You can leave."

"Okay. Thanks for coming with me." And then she smiles at me. She _actually smiles at me!_ I grin back. Hopefully, after today, we are on better terms.

"Yeah, of course."

Marinette leaves and bikes home. I watch her until she's out of sight. Master Fu fixes me with a suggestive grin.

"What was that all about, Chat Noir?"

"Ask Plagg," I mumble. Plagg comes flying up, chipper as ever.

"You're welcome, Adrien," he says in his raspy voice.

"Thanks, Plagg."


	22. Forgiveness, Part One

**Marinette**

_I'm running. Sprinting, actually. My stamina is limitless. I wonder how that is possible, but only for a second. It probably doesn't matter._

_As my feet pound across the pavement, I pick up speed. Speed is good. The wind tickles my cheeks, but it doesn't hurt. It blows my hair up and ruffles it._

_I look left and see a world flying by. I cannot identify where I am, but who cares? Adrenaline is coursing through my veins. I am fast. I am a superhuman right in this moment._

_I glance to my right. Adrien is there, running with me. He flashes me a smile. I grin back. My feet feel even lighter now, now that I'm with him. The sound of his paces echoes mine._

_We run like this for years. Decades. Millennia. It feels like forever._

_But then I see a rock. About shin-length tall: the perfect size to trip on. I tug on Adrien's sleeve as I get out of the way. I utter his name once, trying to get him to move. But he doesn't. There is an eerily calm expression written on his face._

_I watch him stumble, trip, fall, and cease movement._

_"ADRIEN!" I holler. I try to turn back, try to help him. Save him. But my feet won't stop. They just pound, pound, pound against the ground. I'm sweating now, and crying too. Whatever peace I had before has stopped. My legs feel like iron; they're no longer light and easy, but heavy and hard to lift. Dread fills me._

_Suddenly, a storm rolls in. It infiltrates the once clear skies. Lightning strikes; thunder claps._

_A familiar voice calls to me._

_"Marinette! Marinette!"_

"Marinette! Marinette!" I gasp awake. It was just a dream. My mother is calling me to GET UP, because I am running fairly late. In a trance, I change and devour breakfast. After running all night, I am starving. One word echoes in my mind, over and over.

Adrien.

Adrien.

ADRIEN!

That dream makes me reflect on all of our past interactions. Angry texting; heated conversations; the silent treatment. I decide that I need to make up with him, but how? How do you repair a hole that _you made_ in someone else?

An idea hits me. I grab my phone and punch in a contact.

"Ayden? It's me. I need your help."

Ayden must hear the desperation in my voice, because he answers, "I'll be right over." My eyes well up. Even though I lashed out at him a while back, he's still willing to be there for me. I lower my head in shame, realizing just how stupid I've been.

Ayden arrives in about ten minutes. I greet him, at the door, simply by wrapping my arms around him in a hug.

"I'm sorry," I whisper. He looks confused but accepts the hug and the apology.

We go upstairs to my room to talk. I plop down in my desk chair and open a new text document on my computer.

"I need you to talk to Adrien for me," I tell him. He gives me a weird look.

"I'm sorry, Marinette: I'm happy to be made up with you and all, but why are you asking ME to talk to your ex-boyfriend?

"He doesn't believe me about the pictures," I explain. "But if we _both_ claim innocence…I don't know. I feel like it would give me a better chance at getting over this."

Ayden looks at me for a long moment.

"Fine. But…what do I say? I don't even know the guy, and I doubt he thinks of me in very high regard."

I gesture to the document projected on the screen.

"I'll write up a quick script for you." My fingers start flying across the keyboard; I've always been a fast typer. Ayden stares at me.

"This really means a lot to you, doesn't it," Ayden says softly. I meet his penetrating gaze.

"Yeah. It does." Ayden nods.

"Script it all out for me and I'll be fine."

And I do. Five minutes later, I've written a fairly concise script mentioning everything I need. Ayden dials Adrien's number on his phone, and Adrien picks up immediately. Ayden turns the conversation on speaker and holds a finger to his lips, telling me to be quiet. I nod mutely.

"I don't want what you're selling," Adrien says. I almost laugh, but clamp a hand over my mouth just in time. Ayden gives me a warning look. I smile apologetically.

"Hey, man. It's Ayden," Ayden says nervously into the phone.

"Ayden, as in Marinette Ayden?" he asks dubiously. I have to stifle a laugh again. Marinette Ayden; that's his new contact ID. I whip out _my_ phone and open Contacts, as Ayden keeps talking.

"Yeah. I guess you could call me that, even though we aren't dating." Ayden's ad-libbing now. I guess many years of the performing arts has done him good.

"Explain the pictures." Adrien's voice has gone from confused to cold. Plus, he sounds sick.

"Look, Adrien, I don't know _what_ you think-"

"I don't know what I think either! Finding pictures of my girlfriend cheating on me and having her deny it? That's not very _clear_ , Ayden!"

"Adrien. I am sincerely sorry about the pictures. I must tell you, though, that I had nothing to do with them. Those never happened. I have a girlfriend, Adrien. And Mari has – had a boyfriend." Ayden covers for his mistake quickly.

"Why should I believe you? Bets are that she's in the room!" Adrien yells. I make a worried face; this isn't going to plan.

But then…

My window opens.

"Because I did."

Volpina steps through the open window. Her voice is choked with tears, and regret laces her expression. She doesn't look well.

I don't know what to think, honestly. I'm a tad bit worried about how Lila got in my house so easily, but more so about her confession.

"Lila?" Adrien asks over the phone. "Is that you?" The poor boy sounds so bewildered. I put him on Face Time.

At first, he's angry. "So Marinette _did_ tell you to say all that!" But then he sees Lila.

"What are you doing there?"

A tear falls from the corner of Lila's eye. "I think you should come here," she says.


	23. Forgiveness, Part Two

**Adrien**

"Okay. I'm coming." I hang up and get ready to go over to Marinette's. Sure, I am very, _very_ confused, but I'm going anyway.

Ten minutes later, I arrive at my ex's house. I wave hello to her parents and trudge upstairs, worried about what I will find.

I was right to be worried. Marinette has a deathly still stare on her face, focused at Lila, who is crying. And Ayden is just there, standing awkwardly. Upon arrival in the room, I gesture to the other boy.  
"He can go." Ayden nods and starts walking away, but Marinette stops him.

"Adrien, Ayden was sucked up into this too, remember?" I grudgingly decide to let him stay. Ayden backpedals and goes back to standing next to Marinette.

"Lila, tell Adrien what you just told me." Marinette's voice is dangerously low. I've only heard this tone once before: and it can't mean anything good for Lila.

Another tear treks down Lila's cheek.

"I-I'm sorry!" she bursts. Marinette shakes her head.

"Tell. Adrien."

All of a sudden, I have a strong urge to leave. Whatever drama is going down right now is serious, and I don't want to be right in the middle. Marinette is turning pink. Lila's still sobbing.

"Adrien- I'm so, so, sorry-"

"For what?" I interrupt. Marinette gestures for me to be quiet and her to go on.

"I photo shopped the pictures," she says quietly. I look from her, to Mari, to Ayden. Ayden nods grimly.

"She did," he confirms. "Marinette and I were never together."

"Is this true?" I say coldly. My chest tightens with dread; maybe Marinette was telling the truth all along. Maybe my assumptions, which were idiotic and biased in the first place, were never right. Marinette had been trying to tell me that the pictures were fake…but I never believed her. I silently curse my stupidity and shallow-mindedness.

In response to my question, Lila silently nods, sorrow painted on her sunken face. I realize that the girl looks horrible, like she's been experiencing anxiety and guilt and regret for days. Serves her right.

I examine Marinette next. Sure, she looks angry, but I still see the girl I know under that veneer. Her eyes are filled with sadness. Taking a breath, for this is still _very_ awkward and _very_ abnormal after the past few weeks, I walk up to Lila and put my hand on her shoulder.

"Please leave," I tell her, trying to restrain my emotions for as long as possible. Lila nods and transforms, then leaves out Mari's window in her fox form. Ayden looks at me, then Mari, then nods to me, hugs Mari goodbye, and exits her room.

And now it's just Marinette and me.

The air is weighed down with nerves and sentiment. My eyes meet Marinette's, who utters two words.

"I'm sorry," she says, her eyes filling with tears. It's true that it's not her fault, what happened. I'm probably more responsible than she is, actually, because of my reaction.

"No, Marinette, I am," I murmur, stepping to her and enveloping her in a hug. "It's okay," I say. "It's over, Everything's okay."

She stands in the warmth of my arms for a while, then turns to the window.

"What's that?" she asks, pointing at a flare traveling quickly across Paris' sky. "An akuma?"

I nod, impressed. I'll have to get out of here as fast as possible.

I make a buzzing sound, concealing my mouth with my hand. I probably look really stupid right about now, but I need to fulfill my Chat Noir duties, even if I make a total fool of myself in front of the girl that I'm trying to win back the graces of. "Hm?" I ask rhetorically, glancing at my phone's screen. "Oh! It's my mom," I say, holding up the device. I realize my mistake almost immediately, but it's far too late to change my cover story.

"Adrien?" Marinette asks, staring at me with great confusion in her eyes. "Your mom is gone," she says. "How could she have called you?"

Shoot.

"Mari?" I say. "I promise I'll explain later, but I really have to go." I meet her eyes again, and she nods slightly.

"Okay," she responds, trust in her eyes. _This_ is my Marinette – always the first to believe a guy, to give someone benefit of the doubt.

"Thank you so much," I exclaim gratefully, grasping her shoulders tightly in gratitude. And with that, I sprint out of the house, determined to find whoever – or whatever – is terrorizing Paris this time.


End file.
